There are many adjectives one might employ to describe the sailing conditions today in Simpson Bay off the south coast of the Friendly Island of St. Maarten for the running of the Gill Commodores Cup, the kick-off to the 32nd annual St. Maarten Heineken Regatta. “Sporty, sunny, and breezy” would all apply.

But for the sake of simplicity, the day could be summed up with one straightforward word:

Perfect.

Gus Lewis provides further clarification on what the impact of the proposed legislation would actually be and sets out our concerns over HMRC’s proposal.

The Minister’s announcement on 20 February 2012 regarding the use of marked red diesel, directly contradicted the proposed legislation it was supposed to herald. As indeed does the consultation page on the proposed legislation on the HMRC website.

This has caused a great deal of concern and some confusion over boaters’ ability to use red diesel. I hope that the following will help to clarify the situation further.

On a shifty, challenging racecourse that put a premium on tactics and boat handling, British Virgin Island skipper Colin Rathbun topped an international field of competitors in the protected waters of Simpson Bay today to win the fourth annual Budget Marine Match Racing Cup, the kick-off to the 32nd running of the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta, which begins later this week.
 
For his victorious efforts, Rathbun and his crew—Kevin Wrigley and Nick Cunha—took home the winner’s purse of $5,000. Second-place finisher David Storrs, a U.S. sailor based on Long Island Sound whom Rathbun topped by a score of 2-0 in the best-of-three finals, earned $2,000 for his efforts.

The prestigious RYA Scotland (Royal Yachting Association) Annual Awards dinner took place on Saturday (25 February) at sportscotland’s Inverclyde Sports Centre in Largs as part of the RYA Scotland Big Weekend event.

Gold medallist from the Seoul 1988 Olympics, Mike McIntyre was there to present the awards to the deserving winners of seven award categories. 
 
An esteemed judging panel had the difficult job of choosing the short list and the winners for each of the awards. Those sitting on the panel included Chris Tiso (Chief Executive of Tiso Group Limited), Boyd Tunnock (Managing Director of Tunnock's), Andi Robertson (Journalist), Jeremy Glen (RYA Scotland Chairman) and Iain Beattie (Vice Chair of sportscotland).

In making the award, Clive Henderson national chairman of the The Inland Waterways Association, made special reference to Fiona’s impact in providing such generous support for the inland waterways throughout the preceeding year.

A member of IWA, Fiona is treasurer of the All Party Parliamentary Waterways Group and has played an active role in the run up to the formation of the new Canal and River Trust charity, helping IWA’s campaigns team by asking questions in  parliament, and attending the All Party Parliamentary Waterways Group hearings where she didn’t shrink from asking searching questions of Canal and River Trust trustees.

Raymarine, world leader in marine electronics, will showcase its new range of electronic equipment for the light commercial marine market - including the new e7, e95 and e125 multifunction displays, i70 / p70 instruments, AIS950 transceiver, CP450C ClearPulse™ CHIRP sonar and its gyro-stabilised thermal camera.

Raymarine’s team of product experts will be available to offer advice and demonstrate the new and existing products.  Some of the new products on show will include:

· NEW Raymarine e95 and e125 multifunction displays (MFD): The two larger screens are a follow on to the highly acclaimed and award winning compact e7....

There’s even more good news for MDL Marinas’ berth holders with the announcement the leading marina group is adding its Spanish marina, Sant Carles to the MDL Freedom Berthing network – opening up international cruising opportunities for berth holders and adding even more value to its annual berthing package.
 
Freedom Berthing was a new concept launched by MDL Marinas at the Southampton Boat Show in 2011, offering unlimited visitor nights across the network’s UK marinas. Leading the way in the industry, the scheme was designed in response to customer demand and offers genuine cruising opportunities for boat owners, with MDL marinas located across the South, South West, East Coast and the Thames.

The RORC Caribbean 600 Trophy and an array of trophies, medals and prizes for class winners presented at the prizegiving party held at Antigua Yacht Club. Credit: Tim Wright/Photoaction.com

The fourth edition of the RORC Caribbean 600 hosted by the Antigua Yacht Club was a sensational success. The Caribbean's only offshore yacht race attracted some of the world's most fabulous yachts as well as corinthian entries. 578 sailors from 36 different countries took part in a memorable race.

This year, the race attracted a truly international field including a number of world-class Spanish sailors racing on Volvo 70, Gran Jotiti and Swan 56, Clem. There were also a significant number of Russian sailors, no doubt enjoying getting away from the cold Russian winter.